11 Practical Tips for Marketing on a Budget

If you’re a small business owner, chances are you haven’t allocated a huge budget for marketing.

When you’re starting out, it’s a frustrating cycle of I need to get some business coming in so that I can spend some money on marketing and I need to market to get some business coming in.

Well, it’s not a hopeless cause if you don’t have big dollars. As long as you think creatively and you’re willing to put some time and effort into it, you can market your business and services to the audience you need to reach now to lay the foundation for successful growth.

Here’s some practical advice.

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1. Develop your website

You already knew this was important, didn’t you?

A great website is like a great handshake. You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.

Creating a clean, fresh experience for visitors to the site is critical, as is having great content for them when they arrive. Making an investment here will pay off later.

Do spend some time and money on creative content that speaks to your audience and pops up in searches when they’re looking for answers. Invest your time in researching what keywords people use when searching for your type of product or service and employ SEO that works.

Brandscaping looks like this: I have great content on my site that is attracting a super audience and you want to talk to my audience.

You have great content on your site that is attracting an audience that I want to talk to. So, we join forces and effectively double the size of our audience. We work together on great content and share it freely, driving audience back and forth.

It’s unconventional, but it works to create demand for both brands.

6. Help a reporter out

Register with HARO, a site that helps journalists and sources connect for stories in all sorts of media channels.

If you have a great product or service, you can register on HARO and, if a journalist is working on a story relative to your product or service, the journalist may reach out.

It’s free, so it’s worth doing. Read this success story to see why you should go ahead and make the pitch to the pack on HARO.

7. Network effectively

Community business associations and chambers of commerce are logical places to look for opportunities to network, but employ the power of Meetup as a way to meet other business owners or managers who want to get to know each other’s work and have the opportunity to make and receive referrals.

8. Association memberships

Joining an industry association gives you a couple of great benefits — it expands your partnership opportunities and referrals, and it allows you to stay on top of changes in your industry.

Where are your competitors finding business? What channels are they tapping? Where are they prospecting? Think of it as research.

9. Give a how-to class on site

You’re knowledgeable about what you do and how to do it, right?

Invite potential customers to a how-to class at your place of business and demonstrate how best to use your products and services. Make it free and fun.

Direct engagement is powerful. Use social media, your newsletter, and the website to encourage guests to register.

10. Offer to be a free guest speaker

Many professional and social groups and service clubs actively seek out guest speakers on a wide range of topics for their meetings.

Think about the demographics you serve and search for some opportunities to offer a customized speech to that group. It doesn’t matter how big the group is, five people or 55 people.

It’s five more people you just introduced to your brand.

11. Provide stellar customer service

Business comes where it is invited and stays where it is treated well.

Alaysia Brown is a recent graduate of Louisiana State University where she received her Bachelors of Arts in Communication Science. She currently serves as the Content Partnership Lead on SalesLoft's marketing team.